Aerial tramway carrier dumping device



- Oct. 12, 1937.

AERIL ,TRAMWAY' CARRIER DUMPING -DEVICE] Filed Dec. 28, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY @001mm f ATTORNEYS l G. M. KlLcARR 2,095,552

Oct; l2, 1937.

AERIAL TRAMWAY CARRER DUMPING DEVICE G. M. KILCARR 2,095,552

Filed Dec. 28, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheety 2 `INVENTOR. y

Gilbert M. Filed/'l' ATTORNEYS Patented Oct.'12, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT orties AERIAL TRAMWAY CARRIER DUMPING DEVICE Y Gubert M. Kileerr, Hillside, N. J., .assigner to Interstate Equipment Corporation, New York', N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 28, 1934, Serial No. '759,513

1 claim. (o1. 214-60) This invention relates. to a system for controlling the unloading-of movable carriers, and more particularly, carries of the suspended tramway type.

` 5 @It is among the objects of the present invention `to provide noveland improved electrical means for'controllingthe door. of a carrier, so as to yempty the carrier.

"Ihe'invention is particularly designed for use inconnection with cars of the tramway bucket type, and provides means whereby the releasing of thelatch devices of such carriers may be electrically operated from a lremote point.

vA further object ofthe present invention is to provide a combination with aerial tramway cables-,-a 'conductor cableassociated with a particular portion of the tramway cables, .whereby energy may be received by the tramway bucket or buckets from the conductor cable whenit has 'reached that portion of the carrier cable at which the carrier is to be unloaded.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a conductor whereby a conductor cable associated with the tramway cable may be connected by a tramway car support to a contro-1 circuit when a carrier has reached that portion of the cable with which the conductor cable is associated.

manner.

Other and'more general objects of the present p invention are to provide a novel and improved tramway system and tramway carrier, the arrangement being such that electrical means` are utilized for tripping the carrier to'release material therefrom, whereby an economy in the electrical, energy which is employed is secured, by Aenergizing the electrical circuit Ywhich is involved from a Vremote point at the will of the operator, i and this prevents accidental tripping of a carrier in an undersirable positionf in the path of travel of the carrier, thus insuringthe discharge of ma.- terial from a carrier within a predetermined area in its path of travel.

provided to attain theabove objects, it will be seen that the necessity for use of chucks or trippers mounted in the path ofv a tramway carrier is avoided. Y

Other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following specication taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view diagrammatically illustrating a tramway system embodying the present@ invention;`

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing a two-wheel tramway carrier formed in accordance. with the present invention; and in conjunctionwith the 1 conducting track;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3` of Fig. 2; V

Fig. 4 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 3, showing the present invention in connection withwa two-cable type car tramway, and-a tramway car of corresponding type. v

Fig. 5 is a circuit diagram of one form of elec-Y trical circuit which may be used in connection with the present invention.

In connection'with the present invention, thesystem Vincludes a supporting cable l0, on which the. wheels Il ofthe tramway carriers ride, whereby a carrier is movably suspended from the cable I0. The wheels ll are mounted in suitable manner within a housing l2 from which the body of a tramway carrier i3 is suspended by the supporting structure I4.

The tramway carrier is here shown as including a side'door I5, pivoted as at I6 to the body. The door is held in closed position by a springurged bolt Il receivable within an apertured Vkeeper I8 at the bottom of the body. For tripping the door, in order to permit it to open under the inuence of the weight of the material within the body, a vertically movable tripping rod IS is provided, which is operated by a cable 2D. i

In .connection with the present invention, it will be understood that the invention is not con- `iined to the specific structural features ofthe car,

its suspending structure, the` door, or its latchtripping assembly. The invention is clearly applicable to various types'of carriers with various types of doors and trippers, and is in no way limitved to .the structural features herein presented by way of illustration. In connection with Fig. 4, it will be seen that the invention can be used with a four-wheel, two-cable car. The numerals for the wheelsrcables, car body and supporting structure, as well as for lthe tripping cable Zil, are used throughout, in order to indicate that the inven-`V i' tion is applicable to various modifications of the structure presented.

For operating the cable 2G, in order to withdraw the bolt I1 from the keeper I8 and Vto permit the opening of the door, a movable lever 2| is provided, one end of which is associated with the cable 20, while in the form of lever herein shown, the opposite end is associated with the armature or solenoid core 22 of an electromagnet or solenoid 23, the lever` 2| being intermediately pivoted as at 24, to the supporting structure I4 of the bucket I3. It is obvious that this assembly may be modiiied in accordance with the structural details of the speoic types of carriers used, and the electromagnet 23 and core 22 maybe substituted by motors or equivalent electrical means for moving the bolt I1. Any suitable motor may be used for operating lever 2|.

In accordance with conventional practice, the carrier is moved by the conventional actuating cable 25, which is attached to the housing I2 and which is operated from a suitable source of power from a central station, the station being indicated in Figs. 1 and 5, by the numeral 26. This station is of the usual type, having driving equipment such asV drums to which the cable 25 is connected. By turning said driving equipment or drums, the cable 25 can be moved. The return run of cable 25 is not shown, as this part of the apparatus is of conventional'design. The cable 25 is electrically associated, by means of a conductor V21, with one terminal of the coil of the magnet 23, while the other terminal of the coil vis connected through a conductor 28, to a trolley assembly which is generally indicated by the numeral 29, and which includes a trolley Wheel 30. As indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, the trolley assembly is suitably insulated from. the housing I2 by which it is supported. However, cable 25 and cable II! are electrically connected to housing I2, and cable I il may be grounded, if desired, and conductor 21 may be connected directly to housing I2, if desired.

For providing an electrical connection for the n trolley wheel 30 over a predetermined Zone in the path of travel of the car, a conductor 3| is provided, with which the wheel 3U contacts when the carrier is moving in the predetermined Zone. The conductor 3| is connected, as illustrated in Fig. 5, by a conductor 32 to a switch 33, the arrangement being such that when the switch 33 is closed, energy is supplied from one side of a suitable source of current (not shown), through a conduotor 34, through the switch 33 and conductor 32 to the track 3|. The return circuit is provided through the cable 25 or cable I0, one or both of which are preferably grounded as indicated at 35. Whenever it is specified in the claim that the supporting cable forms part of the control circuit, the use of the traction cable 25 is to be considered as an equivalent. The opposite side of the source is connected to conductor 36, which is controlled through a switch 31, which can be grounded as at 38, in order to complete the circuit through the ground.

With both the switches 33 and 31 closed, it will be seen that the circuit of conductors 34 and 36 is closed through cable 25 and conductor 3|, or through cable I!! and conductor 3|, whereby a carrier in its travel will cause the trolley 30 to complete the release circuit and thus automati- -cally operate lever 2|, release the door I5 and If it is desired manually to control the energization of the electromagnet or solenoid 23 at any desired position of the car within the length of the conductor 3|, the switch 31 is closed while the switch 33 is left open and a push-button circuit controller 39 may be used, which connects the conductor 34 with the conductor 32 by a conductor 40. The arrangement is such that the conductor 3| will be connected to the control circuit only upon closing of the control circuit by the button 39, and the tripper will be operated only in accordance with manual control and during the time that the bucket is within the length of the track 3|.

From the foregoing, it will readily be seen that the present invention provides a novel discharge system and an electrically controlled circuit therefor. The invention obviously is not conned to the structural details herein disclosed, nor is it confined to the specic electrical wiring connections or circuits as herein shown, as numerous changes, modifications and the full use of equivalents may obviously be resorted to Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Likewise, the invention is not limited to an electhe control station is not on the carrier or car riers. Said remote control station may be at station 26, or at any other desired location.

In the specific embodiment shown herein, the door of the carrier is of the self-opening type, in which the door opens automatically under the weight of the load, When the latch I1 is released. Any suitable counterweight can be mounted upon the door, in order to close the door automatically after the load has been discharged, and the latch I1 descends automatically after the control circuit has been opened, so that the door is automatically relatched. 'I'he electro-magnet or solenoid which has been disclosed in the embodiments herein, may be considered as constituting one type of electric motor. The source of current which is connected to the control circuit may be direct current, or alternating current. If alternating current is utilized, the solenoid may be of the type which is energized so as to provide a magnetic eld which has a constant direction, when said solenoid is energized by means of an alternating current.

The door may be of the slide type, which does not open automatically under the action of the load. In such case, the door can be actuated to and fro by means of a suitable electric motor. The control circuit for said motor can be `provided with a reversing switch, so that Said motor can be operated in either direction, in order to move said door positively to the open position, and then to move said door in the reverse direction, so that it closes the outlet oi the carrier. A device of this type would not require a latch.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of mY invention,'but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions can be made Without departing Y from its spirit.

I claim: A remote-control unloading system for a tramway carrier system, said tramway carrier system having a supporting cable on which the tramway carriers are movably supported and also having a grounded pull-cable which is connected to said carriers in order Vto move said carriers along on the supporting cable, said carriers having electrical dump-controlling means for controlling the dumping of the loads of the carriers, the circuit of said dump-controlling means including a fixed control conductor located at the dumping point and Which is spaced from said cables, said circuit also including electrical connecting devices on said Vcarriers and adapted to connect said xed conductor electrically to said pull-cable when said carriers are in dumping positiomsaid pullcable constituting part of the circuit.

GILBERT M. KILCARR. 

